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Bill & Nicole's Camino
  • William Struth

Bill & Nicole's Camino

From Pamplona to Logrońo Read more
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  • Trip start
    June 5, 2023
    William StruthBill & Nicole's CaminoTraveler
    Ready for takeoff.
    We made it to Atocha!At the running of the bulls statuePintxos! Iruñazarra.The stair in the Cathedral museum.Part of the cathedral complexWalking around the cathedral.Museum entranceMore of the cathedral complexThe cathedral cloisters

    Back to Pamplona

    June 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    It's been a long travel day with little sleep. To top it off, I was halfway to the airport when I realized I had left my knee brace at home. Luckily, I was able to get one in Pamplona. After our flight, we took a connector train to the main Atocha station in Madrid, and then our train to Pamplona. After checking into the hotel, I bought some hiking poles and the knee brace and and we got our first pintxos at Iruñazarra in Pamplona. We also made a visit to the cathedral to look around and get our first stamp.Read more

  • William StruthBill & Nicole's CaminoTraveler
    Starting out
    The bridge out of PamplonaAlto de Perdon in the distanceAlong the wayThrough the forestRuins in the fieldZariquigueZariquigueThat's my suitcase! We stopped for lunch and the luggage transport pulled up for a local stopGnomes!AdP where the way of the wind crosses the path of the starsAlto de PerdonAlto de Perdon Ultra wide!Our stop for the night at Casa Baztlan

    Day 2.

    June 7, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Today was our first day walking with the big climb to Alto de Perdon. It was a beautiful walk out of Pamplona, with the Alto de Perdon looming before us. We were so happy when we got halfway up and saw that the trail avoided the highest and steepest part, but even so, it was quite the hike. We stopped in Zariquiegui to get some lunch (bocadillos and aquarious). After lunch, we walked to the top of Alto de Perdon and then downhill by the road. We took a shortcut from the road and ended up walking through a wheat field! Then, we had an easy walk to the town we were staying in, Urtega.

    At the albergue, Casa Baztan, we washed out clothes and met Joanne and Paul, 2 Aussies we made friends with, and ended up running into for the rest of our walk. The communal dinner was grilled pork or chicken, salad, rice fries, and a desert and wine, of course!    Read more

  • William StruthBill & Nicole's CaminoTraveler
    Leaving Urtega and the kitties
    The view out of UrtegaMeeting up with friends in Maneru at the tortilla place.Santa Maria De EunateMe n Nicole at Sta Maria de EunateLeaving ObanosObanos PilgrimStorks!The church of the crossThe Puenta de la Reiena in P D L ROur stopping point: CirauquiMore Gnomes!The old town gatesThe cafe in ManeruThe church in Cirauqui from Casa Maralotx

    Day 3 Making lemonade.

    June 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We got off to a good start. Nicole fell in love with the cats just outside Case Baztan.
    We stopped for coffee in the next town, Maneru. Then I realized I had forgotten to leave the room key from last night. So I had to call a cab to go back to Urtega, and while waiting for the cab, the café had finished making the first tortilla of the day, and it was warm and delicious! It's probably the best tortilla of our trip! After we took the cab back to Urtega, I had the driver take us to the Eunate church at Maneru to make up for lost time.

    Most of the walk was through fields and shaded areas except around Puente De La Reina. The highlight of the day for me was stopping to see the Eunate octagon church in Maneru. No one really knows the origin of it. Some say it was the Templars who built it.

    Puent de la Reina means Queen's bridge. The bridge there was built by a Queen of Navarre in the Middle ages. It was for the pilgrims walking the Camino. Nobody remembers which queen, though.

    We mistakenly thought all the tough up hills were behind us, but the walk up to Cirauqui was tough! We stopped in the town just before to rest and have a well-deserved beer.

    Cirauqui is on top of a not so little hill itself. At one point, we saw a sign that said Casa Maralotx was 200 m further away. After waking there, I think it meant 200m vertically! Literally, it was at the top of the Camino in town. Dinner again was great. Joanne and Paul stayed at the same place, and we met a bunch of other wonderful pilgrims, both before and during the communal dinner. Dinner was vegetarian: chick pea stew and may have been the best communal meal of the trip. I made a sketch, too!    Read more

  • William StruthBill & Nicole's CaminoTraveler
    Leaving Albergue Maralotx
    Nicole and the Roman Road.The Roman road back to townSome of the fist sun this tripSome sustenance along the wayJasmine!The gateway out of EstrellaMe and the gatewayA church in Estrella, I'll watercolor it later.Sketched during dinnerDinner: Beef loin with marinated peppers, not the pilgrims meal

    Day 4 Jasmine on the way to Estrella

    June 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Our walk today was short one, roughly 14 kilometers. We passed by a wall that was covered in jasmine. What a treat for the senses. Today's walk started down hill form Casa Maralotx and then onto an old Roman road that started just outside of town. Along the way, there was a table with food and drinks for pilgrims with a box for donations.

    We caught up to Joanne and Paul just before entering Estella. They were continuing to the next town up. The town here is in a steep river valley , and all the sights to see are on hills, and we're done with hills today! After walking around a bit, we had dinner in town

    Dinner itself was fun. We ate with Kim, a mom and her teenage son from California, who we had run into before as well as their friend Laura, who had also stayed at Casa Maralotx. We stayed in the Capuchin Monastery in Estella, and it was clean and quiet, but there was not even a vending machine.    Read more

  • William StruthBill & Nicole's CaminoTraveler
    Leaving the Capuchin Monastery in Estella
    Me and NicoleLaura and NicoleThere is a blacksmith shop in Irache. It's right off the Camino and he makes beautiful stuff.Me at the wine fountainThe view to Villa MayorLandscapes along the way.Mountains in the distanceRuins on the hillThe moorish fountainSnail.Who doesn't love a baby goat.The church In Los ArcosThe cloister in Los Arcos I love how the arch inserts were carvedNicoleThe view from our window at Casa Abuela

    Day 5 to Los Arcos

    June 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today, we ramped up the kilometers to go to Los Arcos. On the way out of town, we stopped at a bar for breakfast and ran into Laura, who had stayed at one the albergues we were in a couple of days ago. She was favoring a bad foot and and so we kept it slow all the way to Los Arcos. I needed that, too!

    We stopped at the wine fountain, and the bkack smith shop next to it and saw the town of Villamayor, and made it to Los Arcos named after the archers (los arcos) who won the town for the king of Navarre. Laura stayed at the same albergue as we did in Los Arcos: Casa Abuela, and we also met a wonderful couple at dinner from Holland as well as couple of French ladies walking the Camino. Dinner was lentil soup, salad, and ice cream. And water and wine. The big topic at dinner was who was going all the way to Logroño (29 k) and who was going to see the festival there. We decided to get up at 5 am and try and leave at 5:30 in order to get to Logroño as early as possible.    Read more

  • William StruthBill & Nicole's CaminoTraveler
    Leaving Los Arcos
    Sunrise on the CaminoThe view to Torres Del RioThe Templar church (so they say) in Torres del RioFood truck!We got serenaded along the way.The bridge to LogroñoFirst Pintxos at Calle LaurelThere's a Michelangelo in the Logroño Cathedral. You can see it for .50 Euros.More pintxos at Calle Laurel in a different bar.View down Calle Laurel.Hay stacks on the way

    To Logroño

    June 11, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Well, we left as planned, and none of the people we met decided to get up when we did. The sunrise was beautiful on the Camino! Although, the French ladies passed us about 2 hours in at a food truck where we were resting. The towns were far apart, and we decided to stock up on some food since it is Sunday. It turns out we did not need to be concerned. There were places open at all the towns we passed through: Santos, Torres del Rio, Vianna, and Logroño, where we stopped. We got serenaded by a classical guitarist outside of Torres Del Rio. Then the weather changed and poured down rain as we were walking into Viana, so we had to get out our ponchos. We walked about an hour in the rain.

    We had some good pintxos for lunch in Viana, and then we almost took the bus to Logroño, but we just missed it. When we checked the schedule, we realized we could walk to Logroño before the next bus arrived. My knee almost gave out 100 ft before the hotel. I gave it some rest and walked the rest of the way with some pain. The feast of San Bernabe was starting to wind down, but everyone was still out and enjoying it. 30 k today. Just before Logroño we left the Basque Country and entered La Rioja.    Read more

  • William StruthBill & Nicole's CaminoTraveler
    Me and Nicole
    A ventilation well to the old wine cavesGran Reserva. These were bottled over 60 years agoA concrete tank for fermentation. The wineries are going back to traditional concrete tanks.To get the wine out of the caves, they fill goat skins. And carry it outMe and the wineA view out of the wineryConcrete egg tanks are a more modern version of the old ones.We got wine glasses with a carrier sleeve.One of the hand dug wine caves.Storage casksWe got to sample some wine still being aged.Tapas in Laguardia, a beautiful midieval hill town.Laguardia being readied for the bull run later this monthWe found a little door!This home had a winery. The window was for the grape deliveries, the grill below was to ventilateThey put bars across the door so the bulls don't break in. It has happenedMe and NicoleMushroom Tapas back in Logroño the specialty there.The town square in Laguardia

    Wine tour and Laguardia

    June 12, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Nicole and I celebrated the end of our Camino with a wine tour today and dinner with Camino friends who caught up to us in Logroño. The first stop was a vineyard that made wine in both the modern way, and the old way (foot stomping). We leaned a bit and tasted a lot of great wine. One of the lessons was the old method wine is what you get in LA Rioja when you order Vino Tinto (red wine) unless you're more specific, and it's the best wine to pair with tapas. Rebeca, the tour operator, arranged for a tapas lunch in Laguardia. Rebeca then gave us a little tour of Laguardia and we saw that the town was preparing for their bull run. She also recommended that we try mushroom pintxos in Logroño. After lunch, we had a special wine tasting with Rebeca and her husband.

    We met Joanne and Paul for dinner after we got back to Logroño. We stopped in a few more places along Calle Laurel and even tried the mushrooms that Rebeca recommended.    Read more

    Trip end
    June 13, 2023
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